City: Bengaluru

In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, 821 million people – one in nine – still go to bed on an empty stomach every night. Even more -- one in three – suffer from some form of malnutrition. Inspired by Sarabjeet Singh of Shimla, I thought of starting something similar on a very small scale in our residential society, Akme Encore, in Kundalahalli. I sent out a video of Sarabjeet's work on our community WhatsApp group and called for volunteers. Around 6-7 people came forward but we were clueless about what to do next.  To gain…

Translated by Madhusudhan Rao ವಿಶೇಷ ಮದುವೆ ಕಾಯಿದೆ (ಸ್ಪೆಷಲ್ ಮ್ಯಾರೇಜ್ ಆಕ್ಟ್) 1872 ರ ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಬಂದ ವಿಶೇಷ ಮದುವೆ ಕಾಯಿದೆ (ಸ್ಪೆಷಲ್ ಮ್ಯಾರೇಜ್ ಆಕ್ಟ್) 1954 ಒಂದು ಪೌರ ಕಾಯ್ದೆಆಗಿದ್ದು, ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಜಾತಿ, ಧರ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸದೆ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಮದುವೆಗೆ ಆಸ್ಪದ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ.  ಈ ಕಾಯ್ದೆ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳು ತಮ್ಮ ವಿವಾಹವನ್ನು ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿಧಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಚರಿಸಲು ಅನುಮತಿಸುತ್ತದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಇತರ ಪ್ರಕಾರದ ವಿವಾಹದಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮದುವೆಯಾದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ ವಿವಾಹವನ್ನು ಕಾಯಿದೆಯಡಿ ನೋಂದಾಯಿಸಲು ಅನುಮತಿ ನೀಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಜನರು ತಮ್ಮ ಸಂಗಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಆಯ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡುವ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಧರ್ಮ ಮತ್ತು ಜಾತಿ ಅಡ್ಡ ಬರದಂತೆ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಈ ಕಾನೂನು ಜಾರಿಗೆ ತರಲಾಯಿತು. ವಾಸ್ತವವಾಗಿ, ಈ ಕಾಯಿದೆಯಡಿ ವಿವಾಹ ಸಮಂಜಸ ಎನಿಸಿಕೊಳಲು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಅಗತ್ಯವಿರುವುದೆಂದರೆ, ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಎರಡೂ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳು ತಮ್ಮ ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳು ಅಥವಾ ಜಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸದೆ ಮದುವೆಗೆ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ನೀಡುವುದು. ಈ ಕಾಯಿದೆಯಡಿ, ವಿವಾಹ ಮಾನ್ಯ ಎನಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಮೂಲಭೂತ ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆಗಳು ಇತರ…

Two significant changes in teaching and learning have marked the opening of schools in Bengaluru after a nine-month shutdown. One is the wholesale move from physical classrooms to digital classrooms. Second is the substantial reduction in syllabus, commensurate with the loss of teaching days this academic year.  Most schools had been preparing for the digital shift “by the end of last April itself,” says Gowri Mirlay-Achanta, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School. And they were told about the reduction in syllabus in July, she recalls. In fact, schools affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations…

Mass Rapid Transport Systems the world over have transformed the lives of people and the landscape of cities. That’s exactly the magic Namma Metro has weaved, at least for some Bengalurueans. The Metro -- where ever it is operational -- has been a dream-come-true. It has provided respite from traffic snarls, accidents, pollution, wastage of time and money, and liberated us from our "adjust maadkoli" attitude towards these everyday hassles. Read more: Is Bengaluru’s Metro Phase 2 almost ready? Here’s a progress report Namma Metro services towards Yelachenahalli from Nada Prabhu Kempegowda Station in June 2017 came as a boon…

Vaccination slower than planned The COVID-19 vaccination drive was halted or slowed down in several city hospitals on Wednesday due to glitches in the Co-WIN app. Reports from the Jayanagar General Hospital indicated that vaccination could not take place on Tuesday and Wednesday as the portal did not permit the entry of names. Meanwhile, it was reported that the Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute did not get the list of healthcare workers to be vaccinated from the State war room. There has been a heavy load on the server as all hospitals are entering data simultaneously.…

On January 16, 2021, Citizen Matters arranged a discussion on Bengaluru's Commuter Rail project with a panel of activists who have been campaigning for a rail-based extension to the suburbs. The conversation had Prakash Mandoth, Ex-Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee; Rajkumar Dugar, Citizens for Citizens; Sanjeev Dyamannavar, Praja RAAG; Tara Krishnaswamy, Citizens for Bengaluru; Zibi Jamal, Whitefield Rising; and Sathya Sankaran of Praja RAAG speaking to Meera K and Bhanutej N from Citizen Matters. Some progress The Union Cabinet finally approved the Commuter Rail for Bengaluru in October 2020, a decade after the first intensive campaign for this service began…

For the third time in the past five months, ESCOMs (electricity supply companies) in the state have sought an increase in power tariff,  to make up for a revenue gap of Rs 3,556 crore.  The hike will be a double whammy, as the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) has said that a hike in water charges will be inevitable (BWSSB spends Rs 70-80 crore of its Rs 115 crore revenue on electricity charges). While the power hike pinches one and all, it is particularly so for apartment complexes. Besides personal consumption, residents in apartment complexes also share the…

Baiyappanahalli Railway Terminal nearing its completion: Pic: Gaurav Sawant The new Baiyappanahalli terminal is fast approaching operational readiness. The various planning departments are still discussing the infrastructure needs to access the terminal and ideas to regulate traffic. Most citizens are not aware that the whole project involves a terminal with a built up area of 26,00,000 square feet, with 21 towers in the complex for both residential and commercial purposes. Many of the towers are 12 floors high. Proposed Master Plan of the upcoming Baiyappanahalli Railway Terminal which is expected to be inaugurated in February 2021. Pic: Shine George In…

COVID vaccination underway Six health facilities in the city are primed for the COVID vaccination programme, inaugurated nation-wide by the Prime Minister today (January 16). The Victoria Hospital campus has 11 vaccination sites, St John’s Hospital nine, KC General Hospital three and CV Raman Hospital one. The other two are Jayanagar General Hospital and Mallasandra primary health centre. In all, there are 243 centres across the State where the initial phase of vaccinating healthcare workers will be carried out over a week. The chosen hospitals have also readied a separate ward to observe and treat severe allergic reactions, if any,…

In August 2019, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had invited citizen groups and other organisations in Bengaluru to adopt streets. Under this volunteer initiative, the adopter has to maintain streets and ensure their visual cleanliness. Nearly one-and-half years later, the project is yet to kick off. D Randeep, Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) at BBMP, says the delay was due to COVID and that the programme would likely be resumed in the first week of February. “During COVID, we did not want people to come out together and do community work, which would be required under AASI. Before COVID, we…